Why is a self-described “complete atheist” in charge of a $3-million research project into religion?
To find out how Edward Slingerland, a professor of Asian Studies at the University of B.C., came to be the primary investigator for the world’s largest study on the evolution of religion and morality, we need to go back a couple of decades.
Slingerland was an undergraduate majoring in molecular biology at Princeton University. But the hard sciences just weren’t ... Read More …

A new University of B.C. psychology study has shocked many by showing that North Americans distrust atheists as much as they do rapists. They place much more trust in Christians, and even Muslims. This, despite the negative headlines about the hardline Christian right and Muslim extremists.
But there is a section of the UBC study that is just as important, and which has gone unreported. It looks into why some of the world’s least religious ... Read More …

We continue our alphabetical look at the location of the larger ethnic groups and visible minorities in Metro Vancouver. If you don’t find the group you’re interested in here, scroll to the bottom and you should discover it. Good map hunting.
JAPANESE
Despite their long history on the West Coast of Canada, members of the Japanese “visible minority” make up only 1.2 per cent of Metro residents.
The first Japanese immigrants came to B.C. in ... Read More …

Anyone who thinks the city of Vancouver is being too aggressive about promoting bicycle use should go to Scandinavia (affordability notwithstanding). Scandinavian and Dutch cities are host to waves upon waves of cyclists. It is common to find thousands of bicycles, literally, parked outside subway stations.
I had the good fortune to spend a few weeks in Denmark this month and spent my last evening just sitting on a bench watching the flood of bicyclists ... Read More …

Universities have often been accused of being fortresses of atheism and anti-religious sentiment. But here’s one college that’s going a step further: Offering a new bachelors degree program in secularism.That’s right. Instead of offering students degrees in religious studies – in Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism or world religions in general — the small, prestigious Pitzer College in Claremont, California, will this year create a major in secularism. It’s relevant to B.C., which is a continental ... Read More …

Trust me.” Have you heard that one before? Have you said it yourself?
It’s an expression sometimes heard in the workplace, in the marketplace, and in personal relationships, even in the bedroom.
We often greet requests to “trust me” with suspicion, however, as if the phrase is the last resort of shifty used-car salespeople or dictators secretly stealing the people’s money.
Without thinking about it, most Canadians assume a degree of trust in any relationship: ... Read More …

If you happen to see a bunch of slightly crazed people holding hands and running around outside their house this Christmas Eve, guessing they’re Danish might win you a bet.
Few nationalities celebrate Christmas more enthusiastically than Danes — and as for most of Metro Vancouver’s 125,000 Scandinavians, almost all their energy goes into Christmas Eve, called Juleaften.
If not dashing outside en masse, many of the Metro Vancouverites who claim Scandinavian roots will be ... Read More …

Danes have a deserved reputation as some of the world’s best problem solvers.
When the small Scandinavian country runs into trouble with traffic congestion, poverty or pollution, bold Danish politicians typically join with citizens to hammer out novel social solutions.
As a result, many justifiably see Denmark as a model for the world in regard to bicycling, high employment, wind turbines, a comfortable social safety net, a competitive economy and human freedom.
But — as ... Read More …

A lot of North Americans are complaining Sweden has prehistoric laws regarding common-law partners — their arguments based on how live-in mates are not automatically entitled to their partner’s assets following his or her death.The issue has become an international talking-point ever since Stieg Larrson, author of the incredibly successful Girl With the Dragon Tattoo mystery series, died intestate (without a will) in 2004, before his books earned untold millions of dollars.Larrson’s unexpectedly ... Read More …

Denmark and Sweden pose a challenge to the world, spiritually speaking.Their 13 million-plus residents are (arguably) the least religious on the planet.So why do polls consistently show Danes, in particular, and Swedes to a slightly lesser extent, are also the “happiest” people in the industrialized world, as my earlier posting noted. It’s true. Life generally goes very well in Denmark, as I’ve been observing this week. Of course, like anywhere, the country ... Read More …

No. I’m not talking about Disneyland, which is Mickey Mouse in both senses of the name. I’m talking about Denmark, where I happen to be. A May poll found this small Scandinavian country to have the most satisfied people of the world’s 30 major democracies.Canada came in sixth on the survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).The U.S., which gave the world the ersatz happiness of Disneyland and shocking ... Read More …

While Vancouver city police dream up laws that seem designed mainly to harass cyclists, the city of Copenhagan has been doing everything it can to actually get its citizens on to bicycles.That’s why Copenhagen has become arguably the most bicycle-friendly city in the world. Denmark itself is not far behind.Denmark’s 5.4 million citizens own 4.2 million bicycles, and only 1.8 million cars.In contrast, Vancouver police have decided to respond to more cyclists ... Read More …

I don’t want to make light of the recent onslaught of gang shootings, but it is not doing much for Vancouverites’ self-identity as really nice people. We Metro Vancouver residents often congratulate ourselves as being tolerant. Easy-going. Laid-back. Paragons of the West Coast live-and-let-live attitude. Beautiful people.But maybe Metro Vancouverites’ ubiquitous niceness story has always been a bit overdone. That’s the case with niceness in Seattle, according to one of ... Read More …